♪ ♪ >> welcome to "beyond the headlines," i'm cheryl jennings. we're talking about the up coming election. we're going to focus on three propositions. those propositions have inspired a lot of debate throughout the state of california. today you'll hear from people

representing both sides. first, before you can vote you have to register. according to the state registrar's office, 73% of the state's nearly 24 million eligible voters are eligible. that is a little more than 17 million people. joining us to talk about the importance of registering to vote is patricia mcgovern the president of the league of women voters here in san francisco. thank you for being here. you worked as a volunteer moderating many of the debates. i'm very impressed what the league does. tell us what they do? >> the league is non-partisan organization that works to educate voters and register voters. tell them what the up coming election is all about. we do a lot of programs that educate them on the ballot measures and bring the candidates to the forefront so

they have a chance to understand. >> why do think it's so important for people to register to vote. i don't ever vote. that is not the answer? >> that is not the answer. it's so important because every vote does matter in the sense it builds and builds. we have a consensus. it really makes a difference. >> cheryl: why do you think people don't? >> they change their address. they change their name. it takes more time to re-register. theye lose it everything they ae doing. with this online registration, it has made it a lot easier. >> cheryl: have you seen a big increase. >> in of the first few weeks, 220,000 new people in the state. in just in san francisco, 10,000 people have registered to vote in the first two weeks of the

online registration opening up. >> cheryl: so they are getting the word out? >> it's fabulous. >> who is eligible to vote? >> any u.s. citizen, california resident over the age of 18 as long as you haven't committed a felony and not deemed by the courted to be ineligible you are able to vote. >> cheryl: what about people whose language is not english? >> if your first language is not english you can request spanish or request when you register, you will receive materials before every election are in spanish. i'm not sure if they do it in other languages and you can request assistance. >> cheryl: that would be hard, to include multiple languages to vote. >> online. that is good question. i know they had some problems

with that. people with disabilities and sight impaired. they are working those things out. >> cheryl: one the newest things is registering to vote and being able to vote on the same day. i know that is in the works? >> that is in the works the law was signed by gary brown september 24th. it won't go into effect until january 1st of 2013. there other p law allowing you to turn in a ballot for someone else but make it a little easier. but the actual online registration, same day won't be implemented until the database is completed. that won't be potentially until 2014. >> cheryl: there is a lot of work to do. what the most important message you have for people as why they

should vote and why had he should vote? >> your vote matters. it does matter. that is the most important thing i can say. if you don't vote, your voice is not heard. people have worked throughout history to get the vote. now is your chance, it does matter. >> cheryl: thanks for all the work your league does. we will continue and many more guests ahead. turn our attention to the propositions. we're going to explore proposition 30. that is jerry

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♪ and feel like a green giant. ♪ ho ho ho ♪ green giant riot now we're going to talk about proposition 30 that would temporarily raise taxes and guarantee local funding. to talk about it. prop 30 is ken tray, lowell high school teacher and howard epstein the vice chair of communications for the san francisco republican party. he is against proposition 30. ken, let me start with you, i wanted to know more about it. why should people vote yes on

this? >> unfortunately california is 47th for people spending in the nation. it's time to step up and support our kids. we need to lower class size. we need to hire the best and brightest college grads. that is what prop 30 does. it will bring in needed funds to prevent loss of programs at lowell high school we have a library and computer labs. we have a sports program. we have a great theater program. our kids deserve that. they deserve a world class education. they deserve an education that will prepare them for the high-tech world that they are facing. we can do no less than pass prop 30. 47th in 9 nation. our kids deserve better. >> cheryl: let me talk to you about this. why should people vote no. nobody disagrees that they need

more but you don't like this one? >> remember, california spend immense amount of money. our budget went up $5.6 billion which is 5.6% increase. inflation is 1.7%. why are we spending so much more? we need to look at the entire budget and go item by item to see where all the ceremony going. nobody can really tell you. like with a lot of these things. the devil is in the details if you look beyond this measure. it eliminates funds for mandates. for instance, the brown act which is open meetings rules will no longer be funded by the state. so if the state passes mandates they will tell the cities,

counties and various municipalities you have to pick up the tab. >> cheryl: let me get back now. you are listening to this. let me ask you, who are the people in favor? >> just one point. one thing about prop 30 if it does not pass we will face $67 billion in cuts to -- $6 billion cuts. we will face layoffs, we will face up to 15 furlough days that means closed schools. that is why the teachers and parent groups, san francisco, cole man advocates for schools and parents for public schools, people are lying up behind prop 30. it's the lease we can do for our kids. we can't afford these devastating budget cuts in the middle after school year. >> cheryl: let me bring you in this conversation. how do you counter that.

>> i agree with him. this has been going on for years. the people in sacramento are irresponsible with taxpayer's money. >> cheryl: how do we fix it. >> it depends on who we elect but we need to go item by item, just like they found all that money in the state parks system a few months ago. we need to go and look at it and secondly, it's alley irresponsible to pass a budget based on a ballot initiative to increase taxes when the people in sacramento don't know if it is going to pass. >> cheryl: let me ask you before we run out of time. who is approving and supporting this? >> the california teachers association, the california federation of teachers and assortment of groups. there is universal support for

prop 30 amongst those involved in the education community. >> cheryl: why against it, who are they? >> people are watching their money, conservative groups and they want though they are spent money well in sacramento. >> so if it doesn't pass? >> if it does not pass, we will continue to wallow 47th or even lower in the nation. >> cheryl: i need to get from him. >> if it doesn't passing back to the drawing board, people in sacramento will have to do their job and transfer money from other places to education which i would recommend. >> cheryl: i know we can talk about this for an hour. thank you so much. we do need to take a break. coming up next, proposition 36,

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100 calories... [ chef ] ma'am [ male announcer ] progresso. you gotta taste this soup. >> cheryl: welcome back. we are talking about the election. now we'll turn our attention to proposition 36. prop 36 revises the state's three strikes law. joining us is to talk about it. michael romano, direct of the three strikes project at stanford.

he is in favor of prop 36. and marc klaas, victims advocate. founder of the klaas kids foundation. i want to thank you both for being here. michael, why should people vote yes on this? >> proposition 36 was drafted by prosecutors of the biggest counties, los angeles and santa clara to make a modest common sense reform to three strikes law. people that have committed non-serious, nonviolent third strike crimes. we will change the permit you get a big sentence, punishment. but life sentences is what we are currently doing in california, i don't think it was intended when they passed the three strikes law in 1994 and it's not effective in reducing crime in california. it's overcrowding our prisons. u.s. supreme court has already

ruled that our prisons are unconstitutionally overcrowded. >> cheryl: you have a button on your shoulder. marc klaas i remember your case. >> polly klaas was kidnapped and individual that was did it was violent offender had been out of prison for six months that prompted the three strikes law which was in fact a law before the people voted upon it eight months later. to say the intent was not known or unintended is i think is present possible preposterous. >> three strikes works. it works very well. you have 50%, you have half the chance to be a victim of violent crime than before 1984. there is approximately 6.6% of

the prison population and each of those individuals have two serious and violent offenses already on their record. they have had the benefit of judicial discretion and many instances the previous proposition 36 benefits them. they also have the appeals process. if they are still there, they definitely belong there. >> cheryl: california has wanted a revision to the three strikes law. is this the right direction for this? >> we think so. the policies in proposition 36 has been in place in los angeles county and santa clara county for over ten years now and crime in those koochx is down more than the other counties in california. of course, the tragedy that your family suffered is absolutely unspeakable but proposition 36 did not change the law for violent offenders and people

involved with the klaas family case. >> cheryl: some people this is going to release dangerous criminals? >> proposition 36 includes special public safety provision. a judge will have to find that you are in no longer with the public safety in order to have your sentence reduction. nobody who is currently in prison or poses a risk will get a benefit to proposition 36. in a judge says you are no longer a reasonable rick to public safety. >> think theyave have different definitions of low risk offenders. this is the anniversary of the prison realignment and of the low risk individuals that have been released as a result of that. there are hundreds that are being arrested for murder, for attempted murder, for rape, for home invasions. for battery upon individuals. these are the nonviolent people. remember, the three strikers all

have at least two violent and/or serious felony convictions already. we start putting these characters on the streets and we're going to see a crime wave just as we in the mid 90s. it talk my daughter and so many innocent citizens of california. >> cheryl: we put aside the issues about cost sometimes a factor in this? >> independent legislative process is estimated proposition 36 will save california between $70-100 million a year and free up prison beds for the violent offenders that you are talking about. >> we can quantify crime. cost of murder is $2.9 million. that is statistic. 55 district attorneys, law

enforcement agencies representing 90,000 officers and every victims rights association is opposed to proposition 36. >> cheryl: i'm sorry we have to leave the discussion. people can take a look at it. when we continue we'll wrap up our election show with proposition 37. that deals with ah. fire bad!

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i'd like to thank eating right, whole grain, multigrain cheerios! my bowl, my spoons! mom, are those my jeans? [ female announcer ] people who choose more whole grain tend to weigh less than those who don't. multigrain cheerios has whole grain and 110 delicious calories. ...more grains. less you! multigrain cheerios in multi-grain cheerios peanut butter. >> cheryl: welcome back. we're talking about the 2012 election and some of the hot button propositions on the ballot here in california. we're going to talk about proposition 37, that will require mandatory labeling on genetically engineered food. joining us is stacy malkan for yes on 37 and kathy fairbanks for the no on 37 campaign. i don't know much about this. i see lots of ads.

stacy, each of us give a definition? >> genetically engineered food has been in the system for less than a 20 years. one species is forced into the dna of another. salmon engineered in an eel that grows twice as fast. this may be on our dinner plates soon and is good reason why prop 37 is so important, if we look at salmon, if it's wild or farm raised and get to know if it's genetically engineered. we have a right to know. >> cheryl: is that similar to that? >> i would look to the experts. bioengineered food or genetically engineered food has been looked at. it's been studied by the national academy of sciences, world health organization and

american medical association. they found it safe for people to eat and proposition 37 is really much more than just a simple labeling. i know that is the way it is promoted but shake down lawsuits against grocery retailers, retailers and increase state bureaucracy and increase grocery bills. it contains a number of loopholes for food that can contain ge. every editorial paper has urged voters to reject it. >> cheryl: the opponents say it's going to add more bureaucracy and cost millions and evening opening the door to lawsuits. should those people be protected? >> we're hearing a lot of misinformation. many of you have seen the ads

over and over, they are called misleading by all the major papers. in the last week, the no on 37 campaign had to pull down the first ad because it misrepresented stanford university. academy of knew tryingists had been misrepresented and this is massive misinformation come panned. monsaton and dupont putting $35 million into the campaign to confuse voters. people want to know if their food is genetically engineered. 90% of people say mandatory labeling should be required as it is in 50 other countries, this is just a simple label. it's because we rig have right o know what is in our food. we are buying and eating the food. >> cheryl: those are strong allegations? >> as it relates to the shake down litigation, that is probably the one concern shared by all of the editorial boards including the "san jose mercury news", san francisco chronicle,

contra costa times, they urge a no on 37 vote. we have the backing for the no campaign essentially of the entire agriculture industry concerned about getting food. grocery retailers are concerned about this. we have business support. >> cheryl: what about this information, misinformation? >> academy of nutrition. >> in stanford we've edited that stanford represented accurately in the ad. we fixed it. it's on the air. it's been addressed. you know, this is what we're talking about. we should be here talking about proposition 37 not about an edited ad that is airing. >> i think everybody is concerned about what is in our food. so is that fair we should know

what is in our food? >> absolutely. people want to know. we have endorsements about consumers union and california nurses and largest labor and environmental health. 2,000 groups in all, people have serious concerns and questions about health risks and allergies massive amounts of pesticides and fields getting contaminated. that is why 2,000 farmers are behind the yes campaign.this is, against the largest pesticide companies that are not telling us the truth. >> i would like to reemphasize the support we have on our side. ag community is opposed to proposition 37 but beyond that, knowing what is in our food. we support knowing what is in our food. fact based information to

consumers but the problem with prop 37 doesn't do that. its label based on fear. there is no scientific evidence. >> cheryl: we're going to have end this right here. we really appreciate the facts you gave us. if you are one eligible to vote you can still do so. if you are registered don't forget to vote on tuesday november 16th. i want to thank all of our special guests to talk about all these important issues. fog about everything we talked about is available on our website at abc7news.com. find us also on facebook. follow me on twitter. thanks so much for joining us. see you next time. bye for now. so... [ gasps ]

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